Jeremy Ratliff
Reporter
Two young seamstresses who also happen to be Washington Elementary 5th graders, got an early start in spreading some holiday cheer last Wednesday afternoon, with the donation of 25 handmade stockings to HAVEN.
Adalyn Blake and Brenna Jirovec are two friends who share a mutual interest in sewing. And as Adalyn explains, one day she learned her grandmother, Dolores Blake, was about to throw away old fabric remnants and she decided she had a better idea for the fabric.
“I thought it would be a really nice idea to make stockings for the families at HAVEN,” she said. “Sometimes they don’t have a lot of things for the holidays so they could use our stockings to put little presents in.”
When Adalyn pitched the idea to her partner Brenna, the girls agreed the plan was a go and they went to work.
“I thought it was a really neat idea. Its something we could have fun doing with others in our class and they will help other families feel the joy of Christmas time, It’s a good feeling to do something for others,” Brenna said.
The project would soon become a team effort. While Adalyn and Brenna sewed the stockings with a little help and guidance from Blake, the girls’ classmates helped with decorating the stockings during the school’s daily “Genius Hour.”
“Each day in 5th grade at Washington Elementary School, students get to choose a topic that they want to learn more about, they call it Genius Hour,” explains 5th grade teacher Kristen Novitch. “Adalyn and Brenna decided to learn about ways that they could make Christmas better for people in need using up-cycling materials. Working with Adalyn’s Grandma, they were able to construct 25 Christmas stockings and had the rest of their classmates help them in decorating the outside of each stocking. The girls also organized a letter to go home to the 5th grade families asking for donations of small items that they can put in the stockings before they drop them off at HAVEN.”
Early Wednesday afternoon, the trio hand-delivered the fruits of their labor to HAVEN.
“These children show the true spirit of Christmas,” said HAVEN Volunteer Coordinator Tammy Degner. “It was amazing to see the amount of work and creativity that went into each stocking. I am sure they will be cherished.”